On my walk through the state park (Fort Snelling) today, I encountered several teachers and a group of young students all speaking German. To say the least, I was surprised. I turned and asked, “Deutschen?” The lead woman looked past me and said to a wayward student, “Bleib stehen,” and then turned to me and said, “Sie darfen gehen.” I laughed. She, of course, thought it was funny too. It turned out they were from the German immersion school in St. Paul.

At St. Isidore’s in Litomysl, Minnesota (pronounced “little missile”)—a tiny Czech community in southern Minnesota—there stands a Roman Catholic church constructed of field stones the local farmers brought from the fields so they could be added to the outer walls of the church. There is nothing quite like it in southern Minnesota or anywhere else that I know of. It is a beautiful structure maintained by local families in this rural community who appreciate its loveliness and want to preserve it. Beauty makes it own rules and has its own passionate followers.

Garrison flubbed his monologue the other night and, worse still, forgot the punch line to one of his jokes. The weather has been abominably cold. Michelle Bachmann, the raving lunatic from the long stretch of prairie just above the Twin Cities, is running for President. Bob Dylan—who peaked in 1965 and is now a sad caricature of a caricature of a caricature—keeps performing to increasingly bored audiences. Our former governor, Tim Paulenty (Mr. No New Taxes), is running for President along with Bachmann. (Sad to say, national voters aren’t much impressed with either.) Brett Farve has finally hung up his boots. The Timberwolves—the most mismanaged team in the NBA—can’t win a game. Cars won’t start in the mornings. So much snow clogs the thoroughfares that there’s only a single lane for traffic. My local coffee guy is running out of money. My favorite barista can’t afford a car (I’m thinking of giving him mine). The Minnesota legislature is dominated by Republicans (Noam Chomsky said the results of the last election portend the end of civilization as we know it). Deer are starving. So are wild turkeys. Those I love with all my heart are dying. And the unscrupulous always win.